Method and apparatus for stuffing meats into casings



March 9, 1943. J EK 2,313,229 I METHOD AND APPARATUS FdR ST-UFFING mm's INTO cAsINes 3 Sheets-Sheet l f Filed July 12, 1940 i fiyezzz r Q JZnEjjfej Ma ch'a, 1943. a-M 2,313,229

METHOi) A'NDAPPARATUS FOR STUFFING MEATS INTO CASINGS Filed July 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 &

March 9, 1943. J. E. DYREK METHQD AND APPARATUS FOR STUFFING MEA TS INTO'CASINGS Filed July 12, 1940 s Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Mar. 9, 1943 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STUFFING MEATS INTO- GASINGS' John E. Dyrek, Chicago, 111., assig'nor to Armour and Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of.

Illinois Application July 12, 1940, Serial- No. 345,039-

13 Claims. (01. 17'35) This invention relates. to a method and apparatus for stufling meats or the like into casings.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective method and means. for quickly removing air and moisture from meat as it is being stuffed into a casing. A further object is to provide a method and. means for subjecting meat which is being pressed into a casing to the influence of partial vacuum. A further object is to provide apparatus whereby casings, either natural or artificial, may be readily stuffed while at the same time withdrawing air and moisture from the meat and trapping out the objectionable materials, etc., withdrawn with the exhausted air; A still. further object is to provide new and improved apparatus in which meat may be readily passed into a tube and quickly pressed; into the interior of a case, while at the. same time withdrawing air and moisture from the casing, the withdrawing mechanism being equipped with a guard to prevent the withdrawal of. meat, etc. Other specific objects and advantages will ap' pear as the specification proceeds.

The invention is illustrated ina preferred embodiment, by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View of apparatus embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a side view inelevation; Fig. 3, an end View in elevation, the view being taken as indicated at line 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail, sectional view, the section being taken as indicated at line 4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, an enlarged detail, sectional view of the meat filling tube, the section being taken as indicated at line 5 of Fig. 1'; Fig. 6, an enlarged detail, sectional View of the end of the suction chamber, the section being taken asindicated' at line 6 of Fig. '7; and Fig. 7, a transverse, sectional view, the section being takenas indicated at line 1 of Fig. 6.

In the illustration given, A designates a frame; B, the meatstuifng apparatus; C, power cylinder apparatus and D, trap mechanism for collecting withdrawn juices, etc.

The apparatus A may be of any suitable construction. In theillustration given, it consists of the standards I0- which support a' platform II. The trap member D is supported upon a lower platform. l2 carried by the frame.

The meat stufiing apparatus B is shown best inFigs. 5, 6 and 7. A meat tube I3 is provided at its forwardend with an integral flange I4 At its'rear; thetube': I3 is cut away toprovide" a meat opening |5- controlledibyra: closure. lid

or top [6. The lid l6 is pivotally supported upon tube 13 by the hinge H. A yoke latch member I8 is pivoted at l9- and provided with a handle 20. The rear end portion of the closure lid or gate I6 is provided with a latch member 2| having an inclined forward surface by means of which the closure member may be forced to closed position andl'atch'ed as'the yoke member I 8 is swung forwardly into the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 5. The tube l3is supported upon theframe bed H by the bracket members 22 and 23.

The stuffing horn 2'4- extend's forwardly of the member B and i's-adapted to receive the casing and to subject the interior of the casing to suction as themeat is pressed into the casing. The horn consists of anouter tube member 25 equipped at itsrear end with an annular flange 26-. Within the tube 25 is a second or inner tube 2 1 which is alsoprovided' with an annular fiange- 28. Theflanges 26' andt28are bolted" to the integral flange l4 oflt'ube l3 by the bolts and wing nuts illustrated. The inner tube. 2! as best shown in Fig; 6" is provided at its forward end with an annular lip 29 which extends outwardly into line with the outer tube 25 leaving, however, a suction space 30' therebetween. Asucti'on pipe 31 communicates with the space provided between the outer tube 25' and the inner tube 21. In. the illustrationgiven in Fig. 5,-a casing 32 is shown extended over the outer tube 21 and gathered: thereon.

Any suitable apparatus forpressing the meat within tube i3 and inner tube 21 intothe casing may be employed. The apparatus C. as: illustrated consists of a compressed air cylinder 33 provided at its rear side with a piston 34 and a stem 35. The stem or shaft 3-5which extends throughia packing member at the forward end of the cylinder carries a plunger head 36-formed of. hard rubber or anyother suitable material. The head 36* fits withinthe" tube I3 and is adapted to be thrust forwardly; to advance the meat therein. A compressed-'air'inlet- 31- is-provided'at the rear of the air; pressurecylinder-33 for advancing the piston and stem 35.- A return air inlet 38 is providedatthe forwardend of the cylinder so as-toreturn the piston to its initial starting position. V

A four-way valve 35 is provided, as shown in Fig. 3; for controlling the' movement of com;- pressed air. An inlet'line leading from a-compressor leads to one portof" the valve. An exhaustpipe 4| also" leads from; thevalve. The" air pipesiSl:anditrformithe remaining twobranches of the fitting controlled by the valve. The valve is operated by a lever 42 which is normally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by spring 43. In this position, the compressed air lines are closed and the piston 34 retracted to the position illustrated in Fig. 4. For actuating the lever 42, a rod 44 extends downwardly and engages a treadle bar 45. The treadle bar 45 is pivoted at 46 and is equipped with a foot treadle 41.

The trap member D is designed for freeing the withdrawn air from moisture or juices and permitting the cleansed air to pass to a suction pump, (not shown) The trap D comprises a container 48 provided interiorly with a baiile 49. The intake line 3| passes through the top portion of container 48 and thence downwardly under the baffle 43. The air then sharply reverses its direction and passes upwardly and out through line 50 leading to the suction device (not shown). A valve equipped liquid draw-off pipe 5! is provided at the bottom of trap D.

Operation In the operation of the device, the operator draws a casing 32 upon the horn 24, the forward end of the casing being closed and the rearmost portion of the casing being preferably gathered, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The door or gate I6 is raised, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, and

meat is introduced into the tube B. When sufficient meat has been introduced, the gate I6 is closed and the yoke member l8 drawn forward to locking position. The operator then depresses the treadle 41 so as to swing the valve lever to the position in which compressed air flows through pipe 31 into the rear of cylinder 33. This forces piston 34 forwardly and the pressure head or piston 35 is similarly pushed forward through tube l3 and finally the inner tube 21. As the meat is thus fed forwardly, suction is applied through pipe 3| and the chamber space between tubes and 21. Air from between the extruded meat and the casing passes in over the lip 29 and through the space into the vacuum chamber between tubes 25 and 21. Thence, the air and any moisture or juices carried along with it pass through pipe 3! and into trap Dtwhere the air is .freed from the juices and the greater portion of the moisture. When the foot treadle 41 is released, the valve lever 42 swings upwardly under the influence of spring 43 and compressed air is allowed to flowthrough the pipe 38 into the forward end of the pressure cylinder 33. This causes piston 34 to move to the rear position illustrated in Fig. 4 and at the same time retracts the pressure head or piston 36 to the position shown in this figure.

The stuffing apparatus may easily be cleaned by simply removing-the bolts holding flanges 14, 28 and 26, to remove the tubes 25 and 21. When removed, tubes 25 and 21 are loose from each other and easily cleaned on all surfaces. The reassembly of these parts is then effected merely by tightening the bolts securing the flanges together in the positions shown.

- The apparatus is extremely simple and sure of the air and moisture is eliminated, While at the same time producing a superior product.

While in the foregoing specification, I have set forth certain specific steps and certain details of structure and operation, it will be understood that such steps and details may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. In casing stufiing apparatus, a casing support, means for stufling the casing, means for subjecting the interior of said casing to suction during said stuffing operation, and guard means for preventing the removal of meat from said 'casing by said suction.

' of a casing, a source of suction, a conduit between said source and said horn opening adjacent the discharge end of the horn for subjecting the interior of said casing to suction, guard means at thev discharge end of the horn for preventing the removal of meat from said casing by said suction, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

3. In apparatus for stufiing meat into casings, a stufiing horn adapted to receive an open end of a casing, a source of suction, a conduit between said source and said horn for subjecting the interior of said casing. to suction, bafiie means extending between the meat in said casing and said conduit for preventing the withdrawal of meat by said suction, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

4. In apparatus for stuffing meat into a casing, an elongated stuffing horn adapted to receive a flexible casing portion, a conduit communicating with said horn adjacent its discharge end, suction means for producing a reduced pressure in said conduit, guard means at the discharge end of the horn for preventing the removal of meat from said casing by said suction, and means for forcing meat through said horn and into said casing.

5. In apparatus for stuffing meat into casings, a double walled stumng horn adapted to receive an open end of a casing, a source of suction, a conduit between said source and the space between the walls of said horn, the space between said walls communicating with the interior of said casing, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

6. In apparatus for stuffing meat into casings, a stufling horn adapted to receive an open end of a casing, said horn being provided with double walls affording a suction chamber communicating with the interior of said casing, a bafiie provided at the forward end of said horn about which the withdrawn air is required to flow, suc- 'tion means communicating with said suction chamber, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

'7. In apparatus for stufiing meat into casings, a double walled stufling horn providing a suction chamber therebetween, said suction chamber communicating with the interior of a casing received upon said horn, suction means communicating with said suction chamber, a guard bafiie carried by the inner of said walls and spaced forwardly of the outer of said walls, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

8. In apparatus for stuffing meat into casings, a stufiing. horn adapted to-receive an open end of the casing, said stuffing. horn comprising an outer tube and an'innertube'extending forward- 1y of said outer tube, said tubes providing between them a suction chamber, suction means communicating with said suction chamber, a baflie carried by the forward end of said inner tube and having its outer circumferential surface substantially aligned with the inner diameter of said outer tube, and means for forcing meat into said casing.

9. In apparatus for stuffing meat into casings, a tube, a plunger mounted therein for forcing meat therethrough, a stufi'ing horn removably secured to the forward end of said tube and consisting of separable inner and outer tubes, and suction means communicating with the space between said tubes.

10. In apparatus for stuffin meat into casings, a tube, plunger means for forcing meat through said tube, said tube being provided at its forward end with an outwardly extending flange, a stufiing horn comprising spaced tubes provided with outwardly extending flanges, means for releasably securing said stufiing horn tubes to said first-mentioned tube, and suction means communicating with the space between said stufling horn tubes.

1 In a method for stufling meat into casings, the steps of forcing the meat into a casing and simultaneously subjecting the interior only of the casing tothe influence of reduced pressure.

12. In apparatusfor stufiing meat into casings, a stufling horn adapted to receive an open end of a casing, a source of suction, a conduit between said source'communicating with said horn at its discharge end for subjecting the interior of said casing to suction, means for forcing meat into said casing, a guard lip at the forward end of saidhorn for preventing the withdrawalof meat under the influence of said suction, and a trap interposed in said conduit provided with a bafiie about which the withdrawn air must pass.

13. In a method for stufling meat into casings, the steps of forcing the meat into a casing, and continuously subjecting the meat within said casing to the influence of reduced pressure while maintaining atmospheric pressure upon the eX- terior of said casing.

JOHN E. DYREK. 

